Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: Mary

Trust Jesus’ Commands

Faith

‘And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”’
John 2:3

What do you do when you have problems? Our problems are actually good opportunities for God to show us what He can do. They give God the opportunity to work on our behalf and display His glory.

Jesus’ mother knew exactly what to do with the problem. She went straight to Jesus and said, “They have no wine.” It is interesting to note that Mary did not tell Jesus what to do or how to resolve it. In verse 5, Mary simply said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

When we give our problems to the Lord, we trust Him to work on our behalf and we do whatever He commands us to do. We must remain faithful and obedient to the Lord regardless if it makes sense or not. Jesus turned the water into wine because the servants were obedient to Jesus.

Most of the time we want to tell Jesus how to fix our problems. However the most important thing to do when we give our problems to the Lord is be obedient and patient. Do whatever He tells you to do.

The servants obeyed the words of Jesus and had faith that He had a plan. They could have easily came up with excuses and reasons of why not to go fill up the water pots, but they didn’t. In the end, the servants were not only witnesses of the miracle, they were participants in it.

What is the Lord telling you to do? Allow the Lord to turn problems into opportunities. Only the Lord can do such marvelous works.

Pray

Lord, when You speak I will listen and obey. Help me today to do Your will and let me witness a marvelous work.

Wait On The Lord

Encouragement, Trust

Wait On The Lord

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
‭‭John‬ ‭11:32‬

Waiting For God’s Blessings

One of the greatest things about God is everything good happens in His timing. There are great rewards for those who patiently wait for the Lord to show up.

Lazarus had been dead for 4 days when Jesus arrives to Bethany to perform His last public miracle.  Mary and Martha come to Jesus and they are both an emotional wreck.  A messenger had been sent to tell Jesus to come quickly so He could heal their brother but He delayed and Lazarus died.  As Mary and Martha are mourning the death of their brother, Jesus shows up. They are sad, angry and even blaming Jesus for not saving their brother.  Little did they know something wonderful was about to happen.  Jesus walks over to the tomb and cries out with a loud voice for Lazarus to come forth and instantly he comes walking out. Everyone who saw was amazed and Mary and Martha rejoiced.

Jesus is never late showing up.  He knows what is happening in your life but the timing is all part of His master plan.  Sometimes we develop a bad case of “stinkin’ thinkin'”.  We think we know what is best and we don’t wait for the Lord to show up.  This is when we mess up and take matters into our own hands.  Abraham made this mistake with Sarah’s servant, Hagar, and forced a son (Ishmael) before having Isaac (Genesis 16)?  It caused years of havoc.

Always wait upon the Lord (Isaiah 40:31) because He is going to show up.

Prayer

Pray for the Lord to give you a spiritual mindset to understand His master plan and patiently wait for all things to come together in His perfect timing.